Transformers found in wind power or wind turbine installations are often subjected to strong physical and electrical stresses in the form of high load currents or internal or external short circuits. Damage can occur between individual windings or within one winding from overloading or insulation aging. This damage can have serious consequences for the operational reliability of the transformer.
As an example, inspecting a transformer in a wind turbine entails considerable down time. The wind turbine must be de-energized and a power quality monitor must be hardwired into the transformer. By de-energizing the transformer, the disturbed state of the energized transformer will be changed and it is possible that the re-energized state may not characterize the problematic state that was present before the transformer was taken offline. Furthermore, a hardwired power quality monitor requires a technician to physically manipulate the monitor, as well as start the monitor's recording function after the transformer is repowered and the wind turbine is on-line. This places personnel at considerable risk due to their presence within the danger zone where arc flashes can occur.
A solution is needed for remotely monitoring the health of a transformer in order to reduce the expense of taking a wind turbine off line and exposing technicians to dangerous conditions.